Last June, we set-up camp at De Bijloke for a years’ worth of ideas worth spreading.

Before lunch, we discovered the Smart Contact Lens, learned why smuggling pays and how chocolate can save the earth.

So sit back and enjoy!

Agnes Nairn

Agnes Nairn is a researcher, writer, consultant, speaker and media commentator on the ethics of marketing to children. She is Professor of Marketing at EM-Lyon Business School in France and a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath, the University of Edinburgh and Hult International  Business School in London. In addition to numerous award-winning academic papers she is known for coining the term Consumer Kids.

Koen Dewettinck

Science doesn’t get tastier than this: Koen Dewettinck has dedicated his academic career to research about chocolate. In the Cacaolab,  he and his team explore the wonders of chocolate. Over the past decades, they have built up scientific expertise and have developed an analytical toolbox for chocolate-related research. Nomnomnom!

Lennart Joos

Smog is a serious problem in big cities all over the world, contributing to acid rain and the formation of ozone. Lennart Joos, a scientist working at Ghent University, has made a research goal out of fighting this smog. Recently, he discovered a way to safely remove the nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the exhaust gases out of smog polluted air, by means of what he calls ‘superacids’.

Khalid Koser

People smugglers have typically been portrayed as shadowy, evil figures, exploiting human misery for financial gain, and risking lives transporting people. What motivates people smugglers, and how do they operate? Who are there main clientele? International migration expert and member of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy Khalid Koser shares his research on the economic motivations of those involved in smuggling migrants, and the massive and complex industry that has sprung up around them.

9K

The ambitious 9K team blew us away at the AppsForGhentcontest earlier this year. Their playful approach to solve some of the most urgent issues city-dwellers have to cope with offers plenty of possibilities to get citizens really involved in local decision-making processes. Since the contest, they have pimped their app  further, and they cannot wait to present it to the TEDxGhent audience!

Jelle De Smet

Jelle De Smet graduated in physics engineering at Ghent University in 2007. Since January 2009 he is pursuing a PhD at that same university at the Centre for Microsystems Technology, where his research is focused on electronic contact lenses and contact lens display technology. He recently received worldwide media attention for his work on contact lens LCD displays, which also got him a nomination for‘Strafste Gentenaar’.